


A Healthy Heart

by mvernet



Series: Sentinel Thursday Prompt Fics [12]
Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Allergic reaction, BAMF Henri Brown, Blair Has Self-Esteem Issues, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Kiss, M/M, Mention of abuse, Out of Character Jim, Sentinel Thursday Prompt Salt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-18 19:40:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15493224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mvernet/pseuds/mvernet
Summary: Blair fills Jim's salt shaker with salt substitute.Sentinel Thursday prompt, salt.





	A Healthy Heart

Jim grabbed the salt shaker and sprinkled his scrambled eggs liberally as he always did. The loft was Sunday morning quiet as Blair sipped on his coffee, not touching his own breakfast just yet. He was waiting for his Sentinel’s reaction. It wasn’t quite what he expected.

Jim grimaced with his mouth full of eggs and swallowed reluctantly. He pushed back his chair. He took his plate straight to the garbage pail and noisily tossed the whole breakfast. Grumbling obscenities under his breath. Eggs, toast, crispy bacon, even the fresh strawberries powdered with a light touch of confectioners sugar were discarded as if they were poison.

“What the hell did you do to the food, Sandburg?” Jim was beyond angry and Blair’s eyes opened wide. He cautiously put down his coffee mug and raised his hands in a placating manor.

“Jim. I think you’re over reacting a little? I only…” 

Jim was having none of it. “You know how sensitive my taste buds are. You know I hate you to do tests on me without my permission. Why don’t you respect that? Am I just a lab rat to you?”

“Wow, man! Like calm down. I’m sorry I didn’t say anything. I really didn’t think you would notice.”

“Oh, so you like to watch while I suffer, Blair Borgia? Did you dose my food with the untraceable poison in your ring?”

“What the hell are you talking about, Jim?”

“Surprised I can make a historic reference?" Jim moved swiftly and pulled Blair from his chair sending it crashing to the floor. He pushed Blair up against the kitchen counter, eliciting a small yelp of pain from his guide. “I’m not the dumb cop you think I am, Darwin.”

Blair tried to use his scientific brain. Jim was red in the face, his breathing labored. He was acting out of character and out of control. And were those hives breaking out on his straining neck?

“Jim, please. Listen to me. I think you’re having an allergic reaction. I… I put salt substitute in the salt shaker. You know, potassium chloride instead of sodium chloride. I was worried about your heart. I really didn’t think you’d even notice. It wasn’t a test, Jim. I swear.”

“How dare you! How dare you mess with my food. How dare you mess with my life!” He grabbed Blair by his hair. “You think I’m a neanderthal. I’ll show you a real caveman in action.” He dragged Blair across the living room while Blair tried to pull back and remove the forceful hands from his head. Jim opened the door and threw Blair bodily into the hall. He slammed the door. A moment later the door opened and a stunned Blair ducked as his backpack hit the wall. “Don’t ever come back, Sandburg. This partnership is over!” Another slam rocked the entire hallway. 

Blair slumped to the floor. He rubbed at his head, it felt sore and his back ached, but he wasn’t really damaged. He shivered through his shock and began to take inventory. He was dressed in what he had worn to bed the night before. One of Jim’s old faded tee-shirts and plaid flannel pants. 

He rustled in the bottom of his backpack for his emergency stuff. He pulled out flattened, slip on sneakers, a pair of thick wool hiking socks and a crumpled flannel lined hoodie. An extra car key and three hundred dollars were hidden in the lining of the hoodie.This wasn’t the first time he’d been thrown out forcefully by someone he thought was a friend. 

He flashed back to the other “sensitives” he had lived with and loved during his search for a true Sentinel. With each disastrous affair, a little bit of his heart and a huge chunk of his self-esteem was left behind. At least this time the flying backpack hadn’t followed a black eye or worse. “I guess Jim really cares about me deep inside,” he whispered.

Blair realized his usual escape plan, run for the hills and cut his losses, wouldn’t work this time. He had responsibilities. The biggest one was shouting and throwing dishes behind the locked door of the loft he foolishly thought of as home. 

Blair sat quietly in the hall, frozen in place, unaware of minutes ticking away. All the other times he’d been thrown out, he always felt an undercurrent of relief, no matter how many pieces of his heart he left behind. This time, his thoughtlessness had cost him his whole heart. He knew the only way he would ever leave his Sentinel was if he were forced to. Like this. 

Blair shook his head, trying to keep away the despair that was creeping up his spine.

_Jim isn’t like the others. He’ll calm down and take you back. He’s having a reaction to the salt substitute. You can’t run. You need to get help. It’s not like before, you have friends who will help._

As if on clue, the elevator opened and Henri Brown stepped out. “Hair boy? You okay, man? One of your neighbors called about a domestic. Ellison’s address was flagged and they sent it to MCD. I said I’d take it. What’s going on, Blair?”

H. squatted down and placed a gentle hand on Blair’s arm. He looked up in surprise at the sound of his real name on H.’s lips. “You know my name,” Blair said in all innocence and H. chuckled. “I am a detective, I pick up on things here and there. Blair, are you hurt? Did Ellison…”

“No! I mean, yeah, Jim threw me out on my ass. But I deserved it.” 

H. bristled at those words coming from the shivering man huddled in a cold hallway. “Hey! No one has the right to do that to you, no matter what you’ve done, especially Jim. He should know better. Damn, I hate bullies. I thought Ellison changed after he met you. Son-of -a-bitch. So what did you do that’s so horrible?”

“I… I put salt substitute in the salt shaker without telling him. Jim’s last physical… his blood pressure… was a little high. The doctor warned him to lower his salt intake. I,,, I want him to have a healthy heart. I want him to live a long full life. I… I deserve…” To his horror, Blair began to shake and tears filled his eyes. He couldn’t go on. He covered his face with his hands and let his long hair cover his breakdown.

H’s eyes narrowed and his jaw tightened. He patted Blair on the head. “I’ll take care of this, Blair. You take it easy.” H. stood slowly and purposefully. He stood between Blair and the door and pounded on it. “Open up, Ellison. I need to talk to you.”

H. was about to draw his weapon and kick in the door, when the lock turned and Jim peered out, rubbing at his eyes and scratching at his neck as if he’d been deep asleep.

“Hey, Henri. What are you doing here? I must have dozed off.”

“Ellison, I need you to step out. Hands in sight, please.”

Jim recognized H.’s badass detective tone and blinked in wonder. “Henri? What’s going on?”

H. looked beyond Jim into the trashed rooms and didn’t back down. “You need to do what I say. Step out into the hall. Now, Ellison.”

Jim looked towards the kitchen and saw the destruction. “My God, Henri, What happened? Where’s Blair? Why can’t I remember?” He entered the hall seeking and finding Blair’s panicked heartbeat. “Chief? What’s wrong, buddy?” H. grabbed Jim’s arm tightly, holding him back. Blair lowered his head and drew his knees up and hugged them tight. The concern and pain in Jim’s voice was making his heart race. He could barely breathe. Jim tugged at H. desperate to get to his guide. “Let me go, Henri. This… this looks bad, but I don’t remember anything that happened after I sat down to breakfast. Is he okay? Let me take care of him.”

H. only tightened his grip. “He says you threw him out over some salt substitute. You think I was born yesterday, man? How long you been abusing him, ‘cause I’m gonna kick your ass twice for every time you touched our Hair Boy!”

Blair looked up, his big blue eyes more round and wide than should be possible. ‘H! No, H., Jim would never. He’s telling the truth. He would never raise a hand to me! I messed with his salt and he’s… he must have been allergic. He doesn’t remember, I swear. Look at the redness from the hives on his neck. Allergy see? It’s all my fault.”

Jim and Blair both turned to H. with identical beseeching looks on their faces. He knew he was going to cave. “Okay. Okay. Jim you go inside.” H. waited a moment to make sure Jim obeyed him then went to Blair and helped him up and inside the loft. H. fixed the tossed couch cushions, and sat Blair down. “Blair, you sure you’re not hurt anywhere? H. discretely searched Blair’s body for signs of abuse as he wrapped him securely in a blanket. “You can tell me, Hair Boy. I’ll take you right outta here and you can crash at my place.”

Jim’s intake of breath made H. turn towards him. “Go make Blair some tea, Ellison.” Jim nodded and did not hesitate to follow the command. H. turned back to Blair.

“Listen, I gotta go talk to your neighbor and calm the waters, you know? I won’t report this, but I want you to know, you can call me anytime day or night and I’ll come runnin’. Okay?”

“Okay H. I appreciate it. But it was all a misunderstanding. Jim would never hurt me.”

H. nodded and ruffled Blair’s hair, noticing the slight flinch as he touched his head. He stood and walked over to the kitchen where Jim was picking up shards of broken plates and mugs. 

“I’m leaving, Ellison. Know this. I hate abusers. I’ll be watching Hair Boy like a hawk. If I see one bruise, one fingerprint on him. I’ll have your badge.”

Jim just nodded. He wanted to tell H. what happened, come clean about the whole Sentinel thing. Maybe he’d talk to Simon about letting H. in on his secret. He hated losing the man’s respect and at the same time gained a new respect for his fellow detective who wasn’t afraid to stand up to scary, cop-of-the-year, Jim Ellison in order to watch Blair’s back.

H. left quickly and Jim brought Blair his tea. He righted the coffee table and placed the steaming cup on it. Jim looked at Blair for a moment taking in his worried pout. “Aw. Chief. Come here.” Jim was surprised to find how quickly his arms were filled with his trembling Guide. Blair buried his head in Jim’s neck and produced a sad litany of apologies. Jim pulled him closer and added his own comfort words. “Shhhh. I’m so sorry, too. I know. I know. You were just looking out for me. Shhhh. Chief it’s alright. You gotta know I'd never hurt you, babe.”

After a calming time of rocking and soothing his partner, Jim helped him settle on the couch and warmed his tea. Jim handed him the mug and tried for some humor. “Gotta say this outfit of yours is something new. Sort of a grunge meets crazy street person look?”

Blair smiled as he blew on his tea. He decided after what he did with the salt, he would try not to hide things from Jim. “These are my runaway clothes. I keep them in my backpack for when I get kicked out.”

Jim cringed at the words. “You got kicked out often?”

“Sure. You must have noticed. I’m not easy to live with.”

“It’s me who is not easy to live with, Blair. I like having you here. Don’t ever think I really want you to leave. I was out of my mind earlier.”

“Well. It was always my fault. I mean, I had these great expectations every time I moved in with… someone. Unrealistic expectations. My relationships were doomed before they began.”

“Someone? Do you mean men, Chief. It’s okay. I don’t mind if you’ve lived with men before.”

Blair squirmed and put down his mug. “Yeah, I mean men. Special men. I was attracted to men with enhanced senses.”

“Hold on here, Chief. Those hundreds of files? Some of them were your… lovers?”

“Yeah. Believe me. That was a bad idea. Objectivity when you are involved sexually with someone is nearly impossible. I learned that the hard way.”

“Blair did some of these… special men, hurt you?”

“Well, yeah. They all hurt me. Some with their fists if that’s what you mean. But I always deserved it.”

Jim tried not to let his anger at these Sentinel wannabes leak into his conversation with his vulnerable Guide. He held back the urge to take names and visit each one to show them what a real Sentinel could do.

“Chief! You know better than that. No one deserves abuse. I won’t have you thinking that about yourself. Like today. It kills me that I might have hurt you. I know it was an allergic reaction and we forgive each other. But you never deserve abuse at my hand or anyone else's.”

“I know it’s not right to get smacked around. But I was the one looking… for a Sentinel. Some of those men loved me, Jim. But I couldn’t love them back.”

“Why, Blair? Why couldn’t you?”

“Because I’ve known my whole life that I was in love already. I just had to find him.”

“Blair? Are… are you saying… you’re in love with me?”

“Well, yeah. You’re my Sentinel. I can’t not love you. Plus I really, really love my Jim. He’s the greatest.”

Jim wrapped an arm around his guide, leaned back and laughed. “Well. I guess that’s good. Because I love you too, my Guide. And my Blair is the greatest too.”

Blair reached up and placed his smile against Jim’s in a sweet, tender kiss. He pulled back and said. “Uh, oh. There goes my objectivity again.”

“Screw, objectivity, Darwin. Kiss me again.”

“Okay, but you have to promise me one thing before we become lovers.”

“Anything, baby.”

“You gotta promise me to lay off the salt, man.”


End file.
